Is it worth wile rebuilding worn shanks buy welding the faces? If so would you use normal wire or hard face? Thanks.
they may be pricey rods but hardfacing the bucket is the best option and will add to the life of the bucket and teeth in most cases. the biggest issue in this is what money you have to spend. good luck
To me it would depend on what kind of shanks you are talking about and their size. A ripper shank for a dozer it is always worth welding them up unless ruined by running directly in the dirt for some time. Shanks on an excavator bucket though are usually not worth the trouble, unless the machine and bucket are huge. Cut the damaged one off and install a new one. Check prices on a new one. In my experience it usually takes about 4 - 6 hours of labor to air arc one off and weld the new one back on. As far a rod goes, you don't want to hard face the end of a shank. My reason is that you will have to grind the point to fit the inside of the tooth snug. You will burn up lots of grinding wheels trying to cut that stuff off.
It’s the shanks of you 160 excavator so they are not very big. They are all worn out and starting to break the retainer pins. I have a good mig welder. I think it would be easier for me to rebuild them, then replacing them as I do not have and Arc Air.
We build them up with hardface and grind them down so the teeth will fit.
Depends on how far gone they are. If worn back to the retainer hole, you are better off replacing them. Otherwise build up with 7018 rod and grind to fit. If you use hardface rod, chances are that the entire shank will become too brittle and break off once you install a new tooth and begin to use it. 7018 is easier to weld with as well over the hardface. You can use an Oxy/Acetylene torch with a "scarfing tip" to remove the old shanks. It's not as fast as the arc-air nor quite as delicate, but it works. Best bet is to not allow this to happen. I know. I know. It does and it's unfortunate, but, it costs big bucks to fix and for the loss of production time. Good Luck!